The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (film)
"The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" is a classic Western film directed by John Ford, featuring prominent actors James Stewart and John Wayne in leading roles. The story is set in the fictional frontier town of Shinbone and revolves around Senator Ransom "Ranse" Stoddard, who returns to the town for the funeral of rancher Tom Doniphon. The film unfolds as a flashback revealing Stoddard's early days in Shinbone, where he confronts the notorious outlaw Liberty Valance, who terrorizes the community. As tensions rise, Stoddard faces Valance in a climactic gunfight, ultimately killing him, only to later learn that Doniphon was the one who truly fired the fatal shot.
Noteworthy for its black-and-white cinematography and soundstage production, the film deviates from Ford's previous works shot in color and on location. This stylistic choice has spurred debate regarding creative versus budgetary motivations. Released in 1962, the film was both a critical and commercial success, earning an Academy Award nomination for costume design. Its enduring significance has led to preservation by the Library of Congress, highlighting its cultural, historical, and aesthetic impact in American cinema. "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" continues to be regarded as one of the great classic Westerns, exploring themes of truth, reputation, and the moral complexities of heroism.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (film)
- Release Date: 1962
- Director(s): John Ford
- Writer(s): James Warner Bellah; Willis Goldbeck
- Principal Actors and Roles: James Stewart (Ransom Stoddard); John Wayne (Tom Doniphon); Lee Marvin (Liberty Valance); Vera Miles (Hallie Stoddard); Edmond O'brien (Dutton Peabody); Woody Strode (Pompey)
- Book / Story Film Based On: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance by Dorothy M. Johnson
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance takes place in Shinbone, a frontier town where Senator Stoddard, who became legendary for shooting and killing the infamous outlaw Liberty Valance, has returned to attend a funeral and comes clean about the truth surrounding the incident.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance featured James Stewart and John Wayne in the lead roles of Ranse Stoddard and Tom Doniphon respectively. Despite the stature of these actors, it was not director John Ford’s decision to cast John Wayne. During the film’s production, executives at Paramount Pictures heavily inserted themselves into decisions surrounding the film and stipulated that Wayne must be cast in a lead role in the film. In spite of heavy protest from Ford, Wayne got the job. Bitter about Paramount’s meddling in his film, Ford took his resentment out on Wayne throughout the shooting of the film. Ford would repeatedly tease Wayne about his failed football career, as well as deriding Wayne for his failure to enlist in World War II (of which Ford was a veteran, wounded during the Battle of Midway).
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was both a popular and critical success, and is now considered one of the great classic Western films.
Plot
The film takes place in fabled western frontier town of Shinbone, where Senator Ransom "Ranse" Stoddard arrives, along with his wife Hallie, to attend the funeral of local rancher Tom Doniphon. The editor of the local paper, Maxwell Scott, inquires as to why a United States senator would travel such a long way for a rancher’s funeral.
As Stoddard responds, the film continues as a long flashback to twenty-five years previously, when Stoddard had just arrived in Shinbone as a lawyer. Soon after arriving, an outlaw gang lead by Liberty Valance pillages Stoddard’s carriage. Friendly restaurant owners and a young waitress, Hallie, dress Stoddard’s wounds and inform him of the situation in Shinbone. Stoddard learns the town’s marshal cannot stand up to Valance and local rancher Tom Doniphon is the only one willing to put up a fight.
Stoddard opens up a law practice in Shinbone and becomes acquainted with Doniphon, who implores Stoddard to either leave town or learn how to shoot a gun in order to protect himself from Valance. However, Stoddard repeatedly refuses and continues to stand up to Valance and, in doing so, earns favor with the local people of Shinbone. Eventually, Stoddard relents and obtains a gun, and receives shooting lessons from Doniphon.
Meanwhile, the residents of Shinbone meet to discuss the possibility of their territory achieving statehood and to elect delegates to attend a convention about the issue at the capital. Statehood would bring new rules and regulations to Shinbone, and certain locals who oppose this hire Valance to sabotage the plans. Valance tries to intimidate the townspeople into electing him as a delegate, but Stoddard stands up to him once again. Stoddard is one of two men elected as delegates, prompting Valance to challenge Stoddard to a gunfight. Later that night, Stoddard faces off with Valance in the street, and after a few exchanges, Stoddard fires his gun first, killing Valance.
Later on, Doniphon admits to Stoddard that it was actually he who shot and killed Valance. Doniphon, who was hiding out in an alley, fired his gun at the same time as Stoddard, and it was his bullet that hit Valance.
The film’s flashback ends, and Stoddard admits that his reputation as the man who shot Liberty Valance helped get him elected as the new state’s first governor. Scott, the newspaper editor, chooses not to publish the truth about who shot Liberty Valance, and Stoddard decides to retire from politics and practice law in Shinbone once again.
Significance
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is notable for the choice to shoot the film in black and white, as well as on soundstages. Ford’s previous Westerns, such as The Searchers (1956), were shot on location in Monument Valley and in color, and Ford has been regarded as being an innovator in the popularization of location shooting. All of this made it surprising that The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was shot neither on location nor in color. There is much debate surrounding the real reason this decision was made, many sources citing that Paramount Pictures was experiencing severe budget cuts at the time and Ford was given a choice to shoot on soundstages, or not at all. However, Ford claimed he made an artistic choice, and that he preferred to shoot in black and white to color, and that black and white film would allow him to highlight the use of shadows. Others maintain that it was necessary to shoot in black and white in order to make it less noticeable that Stewart and Wayne wore extremely heavy makeup in attempts to make them look younger. Both actors were fifty-three and fifty-four respectively during filming, despite the fact that the characters were supposed to be in their twenties.
When The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was released in April of 1962, it opened to favorable reviews from audiences and critics alike. The film was also a financial success, and despite being one of Ford’s most expensive films to make ($3.2 million), it grossed $8 million at the box office. This made the film the sixteenth highest grossing film of 1962. In addition, Edith Head’s costumes were recognized with an Academy Award nomination, making The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance one of the only Western films to ever be nominated in that category. In 2007, the Library of Congress selected The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
Awards and nominations
Nominated
- Academy Award (1962) Best Costume Design (Black-and-White): Edith Head
Bibliography
Bogdanovich, Peter. John Ford. Oakland: U of California, 1978. Print.
Gallagher, Tag. John Ford: The Man and His Films. Berkeley: U of California, 1986. Print.
Johnson, Dorothy M. "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance." The Great Western Stories of Dorothy M. Johnson. Helena: Riverbend, 2005. Print.
McBride, Joseph. Searching For John Ford: A Life. New York: St. Martin's, 2011. Print.
"The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)." Turner Classic Movies. Turner Entertainment, 2015. Web. 24 July 2015. <http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/82756/The-Man-Who-Shot-Liberty-Valance/>.